Walmart - Company Run By Morons for My Benefit

[Arrian]

Which he stated right at the outset (Look at ME! I screwed Walmart 'cause I'm smarter than the 17-yr old manager!). Then he spends the rest of the thread asserting he did nothing wrong.

Bored, Floyd?

-Arrian

[David Floyd]

Geez. What a bunch of whiners. This isn't a moral or ethical issue, guys. It's funny more than anything else.

[Jon Miller]

That is what people say about Happy Slapping.

JM

[KrazyHorse]

Originally posted by Kuciwalker


I consider it lying when you say something that you know will be interpreted one way but actually means something very different.

AFAIK, that's not fraud in a legal sense.

I could be wrong, however...

[Lorizael]

Originally posted by David Floyd
Geez. What a bunch of whiners. This isn't a moral or ethical issue, guys. It's funny more than anything else.

Funny is a subjective thing, and it would appear that most here disagree with you.

[David Floyd]

Look at this a different way. I don't know what agreement Walmart has with Apple. It could be that any defective Ipod sent from Walmart to Apple results in a credit to Walmart for the price of the Ipod, that is in turn credited by Walmart Corporate back to the individual store's monthly P&L statement.

In that case, it doesn't matter where I bought the Ipod, because it isn't hurting Walmart financially.

Given that I know that is a reasonably likely outcome based on what I know about retail, and given that only store managers are going to know for sure what the plan is, then I have to assume that they are making smart businesses decisions. Who am I to question those decisions, when I don't know how their business is impacted?

What I did isn't fraud or theft, it's simply putting myself in a position to derive benefit from retailer-manufacturer relationships that the average consumer or even average retail employee does not know about.

How about that?

[David Floyd]

Funny is a subjective thing, and it would appear that most here disagree with you.

Yeah, but if I said that the sky was blue, most people here would at the very least double check and see for themselves.

[Garth Vader]

I don't see how it's a con. It's Walmart policy. I returned something to Walmart after Christmas that I got from a relative in Calgary. I had no receipt, no idea where it was bought, but I took it in and they gave me cash. I don't think that's a scam or a con.

[KrazyHorse]

Yeah, but if I said that the sky was blue, most people here would at the very least double check and see for themselves.

Skepticism

[Janaki]

Sorry, I ain't buying that.

[Bugs ****ing Bunny]

You know, David Floyd once called me a thief because I mentioned that I had (entirely legitimately) received benefits while unemployed.

[KrazyHorse]

David Floyd also cheered on some wacky loner who shot a police officer who came to serve him with a warrant.

[Bugs ****ing Bunny]

Originally posted by David Floyd
Look at this a different way. I don't know what agreement Walmart has with Apple. It could be that any defective Ipod sent from Walmart to Apple results in a credit to Walmart for the price of the Ipod, that is in turn credited by Walmart Corporate back to the individual store's monthly P&L statement.

In that case, it doesn't matter where I bought the Ipod, because it isn't hurting Walmart financially.

Given that I know that is a reasonably likely outcome based on what I know about retail, and given that only store managers are going to know for sure what the plan is, then I have to assume that they are making smart businesses decisions. Who am I to question those decisions, when I don't know how their business is impacted?

What I did isn't fraud or theft, it's simply putting myself in a position to derive benefit from retailer-manufacturer relationships that the average consumer or even average retail employee does not know about.

How about that?

Actus reus- you received a replacement from Wal-Mart.

Mens rea- you knew that your actions were deciving the manager into believing that you had purchased the goods from Wal-mart.

You have deprived Wal-Mart of their legitimate profits, by obtaining goods though deception. This is fraud, which is a theft.

QED.

Laz LL.B.

You can argue the legal basis of this if you feel like wasting your time.

[Elok]

Originally posted by Janaki
I found it funny.
Unethical but I say coz Walmart makes way too much money. I say we need to spread the wealth.

Ah, I was wondering when we'd encounter this argument. It usually takes the more subtle form of "Wal-Mart refuses to allow its employees to unionize and pays them terribly, in addition to hurting small businesses and using sweatshop labor. Therefore, I am not stealing by sneaking this CD out of their store; I'm sticking it to those greedy corporate fat cats." Did DF auction off this iPod and give the proceeds to Hurricane Katrina victims or something? No, he gave it to his girl, and probably got a night of good sex out of it. Don't bother putting an altruistic patina on this, he's not Robin Hood.

DF: Polite, badgering, mox nix. You exchanged broken merchandise for an unbroken upgrade, taking advantage of a dumb manager to do it. You said the people in customer service essentially rolled their eyes when they heard who authorized it, and argued beforehand, which leads me to believe that what happened was not quite routine. Do you know for certain that they made an official record of the $50 you paid? I'm wondering if they extracted that extra bit to cover their butts when management hears what happened ("Chris said to do it, so we did it, but we had him pay for the upgrade all the same"), or if that fifty bucks went into someone's pocket at the end of the day, to buy the Customer Service people a couple of rounds at the local bar while they laughed and told their favorite "Hey, do you remember that time Chris...?" stories.

[Arrian]

And given that DF is a rabid Libertarian, the whole "Walmart is mean" line of argument is particularly funny.

-Arrian